There and back again

Fans of the phenomenally successful MapleStory on PC greeted the series’ first iPhone outing with great anticipation.

However, MapleStory Thief Editionwas far from the portable version of the side-scrolling MMORPG that fans had been hoping for, with the game missing the online features that constituted much of the PC game’s appeal.

This glaring omission hasn't been addressed in this second iPhone entry in the series, and as a result MapleStory Cygnus Knights Edition is an unspectacular relentless hack-and-slash grind-a-thon.

You Quest in your way, and I’ll quest in mine

There are two classes to choose from in Knights Edition: Soul Master and Flame Wizard. Choosing the former sees you assume the role of warrior Mikhail, while selecting the latter begins magician Oz’s story.

Both stories are advanced by completing quests issued by other characters. Most involve traversing the game’s 2D environments to retrieve items or slay less unfrightening enemies such as the Cynical Mushroom.

This combination of platforming and combat is achieved through the use of a touchscreen D-pad for movement and customisable virtual buttons for actions such as jumping and attacking.

Defeating enemies and completing tasks are rewarded with experience which increases stats and your level as well as the in-game currency, Mesos, which you can use in towns to purchase new equipment and items.

Appear Offline

Although MapleStory can offer visually impressive sprites and environments as well as a story that's certainly more developed and well-written than some of the RPGs we’ve come across on iPhone, it never manages to compensate for the lack of online functionality.

Online ad-boards and mailboxes are but a token gesture and unlikely to appease fans who expected more features in line with its PC counterpart.

These limitations mean that, although exploring the gameworld is at first quite appealing, quests eventually deteriorate into constant to-ing and fro-ing while combat consists of little more then tapping an on-screen button.

Increased challenge results from stronger enemies, which necessitate a period of grinding with only occasional mini-games to mix things up.

MapleStory Cygnus Knights Edition is a solid side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements, but given that much of MapleStory’s appeal lies in its online features fans are likely to remain unsatisfied.